1Oracle on the Valley of Vision:#The title “oracle on the valley of vision,” like the other oracle headings in chaps. 13–23, was supplied by an editor and is taken from v. 5. In all probability it relates to the events of 701, the lifting of Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem. The death of the Assyrian king Sargon II in 705 occasioned the revolt of many of the vassal nations subject to Assyria, a revolt in which Hezekiah joined, over Isaiah’s bitter opposition. The biblical and other data concerning the outcome of this adventure are conflicting and confusing. While 2 Kgs 19 (Is 37) tells of a miraculous deliverance of the city after the siege had been renewed, Assyrian documents and 2 Kgs 18:13–16 report that Sennacherib, Sargon II’s successor, devastated Judah (the destruction of 46 cities is mentioned in Assyrian records); Hezekiah had to surrender and paid Sennacherib a heavy indemnity, taken from the Temple treasury and adornments. The inhabitants of Jerusalem apparently took the lifting of the siege as occasion for great rejoicing, a response that Isaiah condemns. They should be mourning the dead and learning that their confidence in allies rather than in the Lord leads to disaster.#a. [22:1] Is 21:2.

What is the matter with you now, that you have gone up,

all of you, to the housetops,

2#The retreat of Judah’s soldiers is a further reason that rejoicing is not in order. You who were full of noise,

tumultuous city,

exultant town?#b. [22:2] Is 32:13.

Your slain are not slain with the sword,

nor killed in battle.

3All your leaders fled away together,

they were captured without use of bow;

All who were found were captured together,

though they had fled afar off.

4That is why I say: Turn away from me,

let me weep bitterly;

Do not try to comfort me

for the ruin of the daughter of my people.#c. [22:4] Jer 6:26; 9:1; 14:17.

5It is a day of panic, rout and confusion,

from the Lord, the God of hosts, in the Valley of Vision#Valley of Vision: frequently identified as the Hinnom Valley, west of Jerusalem.

Walls crash;

a cry for help to the mountains.

6Elam takes up the quiver,

Aram mounts the horses

and Kir#Elam…Kir: the Assyrian forces presumably included auxiliary troops from various places. uncovers the shields.

7Your choice valleys are filled with chariots,

horses are posted at the gates—

8and shelter over Judah is removed.#Shelter over Judah is removed: the reference is obscure; it has been suggested that Judah’s protection was Jerusalem itself, and with the fall of the city the country was exposed. House of the Forest: an armory built by Solomon; its columns of wood suggested the trees of a forest; cf. 1 Kgs 7:2; 10:17.

On that day you looked to the weapons in the House of the Forest; 9#Frenetic efforts made to fortify the city before the impending siege; cf. 2 Kgs 20:20; 2 Chr 32:3–4, 30. Some suggest that the description of these preparations comes from the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s assault on Jerusalem in 588. You did not look to the city’s Maker: Isaiah here makes the crucial point. Jerusalem’s safety lay not in military forces nor in alliances with other nations nor in playing power politics but in the Lord, here presented as the creator and founder of the city. Isaiah may be alluding to the belief that the city was inviolable. you saw that the breaches in the City of David were many; you collected the water of the lower pool. 10You numbered the houses of Jerusalem, tearing some down to strengthen the wall; 11you made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you did not look to the city’s Maker, nor consider the one who fashioned it long ago.